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interview

You’re a leader in your industry. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’re wondering if you should finally put your thoughts in print. Publishing expert an EO Austin member Clint Greenleaf offers insider information on how to get started with your business book. (more…)

It is one of the most famous survival stories of all time. In October 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into the frozen Andes Mountains, leaving 16 people to survive for 72 days. After waking from a concussion, only to learn that his mother had died on impact and his sister was near death, Nando Parrado became obsessed with surviving. He and rugby teammate Roberto Canessa emerged as heroes when they walked for 10 days to find their salvation.

In this special Q&A, Overdrivesits down with the entrepreneur to talk about leadership, taking things one day at a time and making miracles of your own. (more…)

Overdrive: How integral is a company’s culture to its overall success and profitability?
AR: Every company has a culture, but a negative culture – where employees feel used up and spit out – works against your ability to succeed and make profit. You need a positive culture that empowers people to outperform the competition. High performers like JetBlue, Southwest, GE, Starbucks and Zappos, have a strong, distinct culture that employees are conscious of and use every day. Leaders need to keep in mind that companies like Pan Am, Eastern Airlines and even Enron had strong cultures in the beginning that ultimately became negative and failed their people.

Do you remember that movie Office Space, a classic comedy about a down-and-out employee trying to survive his 9-to-5 job? It’s one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and it reminded me of how some bosses out there can ruin the culture of a workplace with their unreasonable behavior. Check out this article fromInc.I came across about difficult bosses. Pretty cool stuff!

Robert Sutton is like a priest or psychiatrist of office life: People tell him everything. And because he is not bound by vows of secrecy, Sutton, a professor in Stanford’s department of management science and engineering, is free to share the tales, both comic and tragic, that pour in to him from managers and the managed alike. Sutton’s 2007 book, The No Asshole Rule, was a bestseller. Its thesis — don’t hire jerks — became policy at companies around the world. He recently followed that up with the equally canny and diverting Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best…and Learn From the Worst (Business Plus). Sutton spoke with Inc. editor-at-large Leigh Buchanan about how to produce inspiration, rather than desperation, in your followers. (more…)

BOLD recently sat down with business expert Stever Robbins to discuss his latest book, “Get-It-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More.” Stever is the director of the Babson College Collaboratory and host of “The Get It Done Guy” on the Quick and Dirty Tips network.

To read the first part of this interview, published on October 12, click here.

BOLD: Discuss your idea of the life map. How will this help entrepreneurs keep themselves focused on the next step, and not unnecessary work?
SR: A life map is a goal ladder that includes your personal life. I invented it by accident, to explain the logic behind my business projects to a summer intern. A goal ladder wasn’t enough; my business only made sense when considered in the context of my life goals. My life map is a filter and focus tool. When a new opportunity pops up, I ask where it goes on my life map. Is it a new business? A new strategic initiative? A new project? A new task? If it doesn’t fit, then it represents a major life change to take it on. That’s a signal that it’s actually a distraction.